Celebrating great art in humble places: the glorious talents of the artists who illustrate stories, advertisements and comics.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

ONE LOVELY DRAWING, part 42

The remarkable Harry Beckhoff drew this tiny picture of a man scared by a black cat in 1913.

What a marvelous design.

Many artists would feel constrained by the actual size or shape of a cat. Or they might struggle over the fact that a cat walks on the ground around our ankles, so you are obligated to draw the entire body if you want to show the face.

But Beckhoff understood that the design comes first. Everything else flows from that.